Tennessee and Florida aren't the only states where the history of racism is under siege

[Nevilledog]

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CNN
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"Many conservative parents and lawmakers are challenging books about the history of race and racism -- and in consequence are obstructing students' understanding of the persistence of a harmful racial order," write Brandon Tensley and Maya Brown | Analysis

cnn.com
Analysis: Conservatives are muzzling educators and obstructing students' understanding of Black...
Many parents and lawmakers are challenging books and instruction about the history of race and racism -- and in consequence stopping students' understanding of the persistence of a harmful racial...
11:01 AM · Feb 10, 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/politics/civil-rights-history-race-deconstructed-newsletter/index.html

In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, a historian and the co-founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, proposed that the second week of February be Negro History Week.

"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated," wrote Woodson, considered the "Father of Black History."

Textbooks at the time largely ignored the US's Black population, so Woodson took on the task of writing Black Americans into the country's culture and history.

Today, as the US observes Black History Month, which grew out of Negro History Week, Woodson's provocation has taken on new urgency. Many conservative parents and lawmakers are challenging books and instruction about the history of race and racism -- and in consequence are not only muzzling educators but also obstructing students' understanding of the persistence of a harmful racial order.

For instance, one Tennessee group, empowered by a new state law, is griping about "Ruby Bridges Goes To School," a children's book by Bridges about her experience desegregating a Louisiana elementary school as a 6-year-old in 1960.

*snip*

[Tanuki]

1. Yeah but Tennessee may be the only state where books about seahorses

are too hot to handle!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/sea-horses-book-tennessee-banned_n_614eaba0e4b01dff4b6dc0e5/amp

"A children’s book with an illustration of hugging sea horses is too hot to handle for kids and should be banned from elementary schools in Williamson County, Tennessee, a chapter of the conservative group Moms for Liberty insists.

“Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea” includes such steamy passages as: “They twist their tails together and twirl gently around, changing color until they match. ... The two of them dance until sunset and then she puts her eggs into his pouch.”...)more)


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